France's medical regulator said on Thursday it has approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for a nationwide roll-out, after the European Medicines Agency gave its go-ahead on Monday.
"The vaccine can be used for people aged 16 and over, including elderly", said the Haute Autorité de la Santé (HAS).
A vaccination campaign is to start on Sunday, with health workers and older people among the first to get Covid-19 shots, the government has said.
The French authorities are concerned that the holiday period could see a new spike in infections, after the country's total Covid-19 death toll went above 60,000 last week.
Authorities said late Tuesday that nearly 12,000 new cases had been reported in the previous 24 hours, and 386 deaths.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
